Posts Tagged ‘VW diesel news’

Former VW manager Oliver Schmidt pleaded guilty as part of diesel gate, but now says in a letter to the judge he was used by the automaker.

Former Volkswagen executive Oliver Schmidt, the second person to admit guilt in the automaker’s diesel emissions scandal, was sentenced to seven years in prison for his role in VW’s diesel scandal in Detroit today.

Schmidt, seeking some leniency in his sentencing, wrote a letter to the federal judge hearing the case claiming he was “misused by VW.”

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Lawyers for both sides argued about level of Schmidt’s involvement in the scandal. Ultimately, the judge sided with prosecutors sentencing him to seven years rather than the 40 months his lawyers were seeking. (more…)

VW diesel engineer James Liang was the first to plead guilty in the VW diesel scam case.

A one-time Volkswagen engineer who admitted playing a key role in the German automaker’s diesel emissions scandal has been sentenced by a Detroit federal judge to 40 months in prison and faces a $200,000 fine.

That was significantly more of a penalty than federal prosecutors originally had sought for James Liang, the first VW employee to plead guilty in a case that has now cost the company nearly $30 billion and led to the recall or buyback of millions of diesel-powered vehicles sold in the U.S., Europe and other parts of the world.

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Separately, a former Volkswagen quality control engineer has told German prosecutors that he advised then-CEO Martin Winterkorn about the diesel rigging scandal on July 27, 2015. That was a month ahead of when Winterkorn and other members of the VW board had previously said they learned about the problem, and nearly two months before the scam was revealed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (more…)

Volkswagen can now sell the "new" diesels that have sitting in limbo since the EPA ordered them to stop selling the vehicles in fall 2015.

Volkswagen has reached an agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency that will allow it to sell off about 67,000 diesel vehicles that have been in limbo since the EPA accused the German maker of cheating on emissions tests in September 2015.

The EPA previously approved a fix for about 70,000 VW diesel vehicles already in consumer hands. But the carmaker will still have to repurchase roughly 500,000 vehicles using its 2.0- and 3.0-liter diesel engines that cannot be brought into compliance with Clear Air Act standards.

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Separately, VW on Thursday said that it had reached an agreement with 10 states about environmental and consumer claims related to the diesel emissions scandal. The deal will cost the maker an estimated $157.45 million, but in a statement, VW said, it “avoids further prolonged and costly litigation,” and will let the carmaker “work to earn back the trust of its customers, regulators and the public.” (more…)

Volkswagen AG pleaded guilty to three felony counts in U.S. District Court in Detroit today.

This story has been updated with new information.

Volkswagen AG pleaded guilty to three felony counts in U.S. District court in Detroit as part of a $4.3 billion settlement with the Department of Justice.

The guilty pleas were a first for VW, which had never pleaded guilty to any criminal charges before — ever, according to VW officials.

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“Your honor, VW AG is pleading guilty to all three counts because it is guilty on all three counts,” said VW general counsel Manfred Doess while entering plea on the company’s behalf. He flew from Germany to Detroit for the trial. (more…)

Volkswagen is inching closer to closing the books on its diesel emissions scandal with a $4.3 billion settlement.

Volkswagen AG appears to be one very expensive step closer to winding up its diesel emissions scandal case in the U.S. after agreeing to pay a $4.3 billion settlement for the impact of rigging its diesels to cheat U.S. requirements.

The proposed deal with the U.S. Justice Department and U.S. Customs and Border Protection forces VW to enter a guilty plea regarding “certain U.S. criminal-law provisions.” Also the agreement, which isn’t final yet, forces the automaker to be subject to an independent monitor for the next three years.

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VW officials said the settlement “is still subject to the approval by the management board and the supervisory board of Volkswagen AG.” The Justice Department declined to comment. (more…)

Volkswagen and federal regulators received an extension their deadline to reach a settlement on VW's 3.0-liter diesel engine emissions scandal.

Volkswagen AG and Bosch GmbH got very different types of news today about the same problem: how much they’re going to pay to resolved the emission cheat scandal for VW’s diesel engines in the U.S.

U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer gave the automaker and federal regulators until Friday in what he termed a “final” extension on the deadline he set for the parties to work out a settlement on 80,000 vehicles equipped with the 3.0-liter diesel engines that failed to meet U.S. emissions standards.

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In granting the extension, Breyer noted that the discussions were complicated, but that he was optimistic they would reach a deal by Friday. The deal was supposed to be done last Friday. (more…)

Volkswagen is expected to pay at least $200 million to offset the emission violations for its 3.0-liter diesel in the U.S.

The other shoe is scheduled to drop on Volkswagen AG today as a federal judge in San Francisco is expected to rule on the proposed settlement to resolve the issues surrounding the German maker’s 3.0-liter diesel engine.

U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer is expected to issue a decision about the automaker’s plans to fix or buyback about 80,000 of the affected diesel-powered vehicles: 20,000 will be bought while the remaining 60,000 Audis and VW SUVs will be repaired.

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The same judge already approved a deal costing VW about $10 billion to fix or buy nearly 475,000 vehicles powered by 2.0-liter diesel engines. The overall plan involving those engines will cost VW $14.7 billion in fees, fines and other future actions in addition to the repairs and buybacks. (more…)

As part of its restitution proposal, the U.S. government is pushing VW to build EVs at its Tennessee plant.

Volkswagen is finding it increasingly difficult to find a path out of the legal morass created by the fallout from the emission scandal that has enveloped the German automaker since late last summer.

Manager Magazin, one of Germany’s leading business publications, reported over the weekend that VW’s senior executives believe it could take until late March, at the earliest, to come up with some kind of settlement with U.S. officials over charges the company cheated emissions tests by equipping nearly a half million cars with a “defeat” device to avoid meeting U.S. standards.

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Negotiations have stalled because the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is “demanding a long distance test of a technical solution proposed by Volkswagen,” the magazine reported. (more…)

Michael Horn, head of VW of America, is going to have to tell the California Air Resources Board how the company will fix its diesels by Nov. 20, 2015.

As VW of America chief Michael Horn explained he didn’t know how the diesel cheating could happen to a dais of angry U.S. congressmen, the California Air Resources Board informed VW it better have a plan in place to fix the problem by Nov. 20.

The deadline comes 45 days after the automaker received a compliance letter on Sept. 18 regarding the diesel issue. Not only that, it appears that California officials are going to start testing other diesels from automakers other than VW to ensure they are compliant.

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Thus far, no other automakers have come forward or been caught failing to meet federal or state emissions standards or cheating to make them. VW estimates that it may have as many as 11 million diesels with the cheating software in the U.S. (more…)

VW CEO Martin Winterkorn announced his resignation today as part of an effort to be transparent.

Tall, gruff and stern, Martin Winterkorn was precisely the sort of executive that Volkswagen AG favored, first and foremost an engineer. In this case, one who seemed readily capable of understanding even the most arcane technical details of every car within the vast VW empire of more than a dozen brands.

As the automaker’s one-time head of engineering, that may, ironically, have been a key factor that forced his resignation on Wednesday, less than a week after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency accused VW of cheating on diesel emissions testing. Few who know Winterkorn, or the VW way of doing business, could imagine that the 68-year-old executive wasn’t at least peripherally aware of problems.

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While not directly linked, Winterkorn stepped down ahead of this week’s VWAG board meeting, stating that, “As CEO I accept responsibility for the irregularities that have been found in diesel engines and have therefore requested the Supervisory Board to agree on terminating my function as CEO of the Volkswagen Group. (more…)